The 2001 Grand National (known as the Martell Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 154th official renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 7 April 2001.
The steeplechase was won by a distance by 33/1 shot Red Marauder, ridden by jockey Richard Guest, in a time of over 11 minutes. The winner was trained and owned by Norman Mason and trained at his base in Crook, County Durham and ran in the trainer's colours of red with a blue hoop, three blue hoops on the sleeves and a red and blue hooped cap.
The field was limited for safety reasons to a maximum of 40 competitors, of which only two completed the course without mishap and was run in heavy going. The race was notable for an unusually high number of falls, including eight at the Canal Turn, and it came in for criticism in some quarters, believing that the conditions were too wet and muddy for the race to take place. However, supporters of the race were quick to point out that the slow pace and bottomless ground benefitted the race as there were no injuries sustained to any horse or rider.
Read more about 2001 Grand National: Background, Leading Contenders, The Race, Finishing Order, Non-finishers, Jockeys, Controversy, Media Coverage
Famous quotes containing the words grand and/or national:
“The grand style is available now only in old poems, museums, and parodies.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“The return of the asymmetrical Saturday was one of those small events that were interior, local, almost civic and which, in tranquil lives and closed societies, create a sort of national bond and become the favorite theme of conversation, of jokes and of stories exaggerated with pleasure: it would have been a ready- made seed for a legendary cycle, had any of us leanings toward the epic.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)